A Chat with Jane Doe
by CinnamonStyx
Summary: After Bruce captures Jane Doe following an escape from Arkham, he becomes troubled by something she had said. So he goes to Arkham to get to have a talk with her.


**A/N:** _I was determined to write a story about one of Batman's more underused enemies. So I randomly chose out of a group of characters and I ended up with Jane Doe. Funnily enough, I gave Jane Doe a minor role in one of my previous stories. Anyway, I haven't got much else to say about this so I guess you can just read now._

* * *

It was a scenario he'd gotten used to. He climbed up fire escapes, hurried through alleys, and jumped across rooftops in pursuit of a suspect. His capr always blew behind him in the wind and the suspect always got tired within at least half-an-hour of pursuit, usually less.

Usually, the people Bruce chased like this were petty crooks. Muggers, convenience store robbers, and subordinates of higher level crime bosses. Most of Gotham's more colourful rogues had developed better strategies for dealing with Batman. But tonight it was someone very special.

Her name was Jane Doe, and she had been eluding the law for months now. Tonight, Batman was determined to catch her. Technically, her name wasn't actually Jane Doe. But nobody knew her true name and "Jane Doe" was all she would respond to. In fact, nobody knew much of anything about Jane. Not her age, not where she came from, or even her ethnicity. She had no skin at all, just being exposed muscles. At least, that's what she looked like most of the time.

Another reason it was so important for Bruce to capture Jane was that she was a serial killer. One with a disturbing MO at that. She was able to perfectly replicate the mannerisms of anyone. So whenever she killed someone she impersonated them; usually wearing a latex suit that resembled the likeness of her victim. Although in some extreme cases she had been known to wear the actual skin of whoever she had killed. Jane Doe was so good at impersonating others that she could live as another person for weeks or months without getting caught. Bruce liked believing in second chances, but Doe was one of the enemies of his that he thought was completely irredeemable. Which was why it was important that Batman stopped her tonight.

"You can't run forever, Jane!"

"Maybe not, but I can do it faster than you!"

Bruce leaped across another gap in the rooftops. The rain was coming down hard and he'd been chasing Jane for quite a while now. Thanks to years of training he could do this four hours. Jane had broken out of Arkham three months ago and was likely not accustomed to having to run so much. She would tire eventually.

Jane Doe glanced over her shoulder; her lips were twisted into a psychotic smile. Her lack of skin made the expression all the more terrifying. This moment Jane took to taunt Batman proved to be a mistake. She tripped over her own feet, stumbling but not quite falling.

Batman shot off his grappling gun which wrapped around Jane's legs, binding them together. He pulled, knocking Jane over. Her face landed in a puddle on the roof and she groaned.

"You're sick Jane, you need to go back to Arkham." Batman slowly approached Jane's prone body, reeling in the grappling hook. He got another length of cable off his belt and used it to tie up Jane. Once she was tied, he picked her up.

"I'll get out again…" Jane laughed. "Maybe in a month, maybe a year. But I'll get out."

"Then I'll just put you back there again." Batman pressed a button on his gauntlet to call the Batmobile over to the alley below him.

Jane smirked again. "This crusade against crime, it's pointless… Pointless, but inspiring."

Bruce scowled as his car came around. He jumped down and landed in front of the Batmobile. He loaded Jane into the back before he got behind the driver's side.

"You'll never be able to stop me forever." Jane's taunts continued as the car started.

"I've done it before. And I'll keep doing it." Bruce refused to look at Jane through the rearview mirror as he drove away.

"Tell yourself whatever makes you happy…" Jane paused in what appeared to be a highly deliberate manner. "... _Bruce._"

Bruce froze up, but managed to keep his composure. But on the inside his mind raced at a mile a minute. Neither of them said another word for the rest of the journey to Arkham. He dropped off Jane with security and drove back to the Batcave, hoping he'd misheard what had been said to him.

* * *

A week passed since the capture of Jane Doe, but Bruce hadn't been able to shake what she'd said. So one evening, he decided to pay a visit to Arkham Asylum. He'd been there enough times for it to not unnerve him. But even so, part of him worried about meeting Jane Doe. This hadn't been the first time someone had been able to deduce who he really was under the mask. In fact, as much as Bruce hated to admit it, he was much worse at keeping his identity private from his enemies than he liked to claim. But this knowledge in the hands of someone like Jane Doe could be dangerous.

The Arkham administration trusted Batman so getting a private talk with Jane Doe was easy. Batman and two guards entered a clean room with reinforced walls. The only furniture was a table and two chairs. Batman looked to the guards.

"I'd like you two to leave." requested Bruce.

"Ms. Doe needs at least two people watching her at all times." one of the guards informed him.

"I know what I'm up against."

"C'mon, he's Batman. He knows what he's doing." the second guard looked to his partner. "Let's just wait outside."

The two guards exited the room and closed the door behind them. Once they were for sure gone, Batman looked across the table to Jane Doe.

"So what brings you here today?" asked Jane.

"I want to talk about what you said to me." Batman began. "Before I brought you here?"

Jane grinned. "Oh, and what did I say?"

"A name. Don't act like you can't remember."

"Oh yes, I'm sorry. Did I disturb you, Mr. Wayne? I guess you'll have to kill me if you want to keep your secret. Wait, wait, that's right, you don't kill. You've got that code of yours, don't you? Is that because of what happened to mommy and daddy?"

All while Jane Doe was making her speech, Batman simply stared her down, his eyes narrowing. Once she was done, he left a small silence before he spoke. "You'd never tell anyone."

"What makes you so sure? If I wanted I could shout to the criminal underworld _'Bruce Wayne is Batman'_ and live the rest of my life like a king." Jane Doe's posture changed to mimic the way Batman was sitting.

For a moment, Bruce wondered if she did that on purpose. To test the theory he leaned forward on the table. "I've read your psych profile, Doe. You believe that your default self is a failure. You can't live properly without someone's identity. You'd never allow yourself to be successful without someone else's face."

"Are you sure about that, Bruce? This information I have, it gives me a lot of power. And all I've ever wanted is power." Jane copied the way Batman was sitting.

"But I'm Bruce Wayne, the most powerful man in the city. And Batman, considered a hero by the public. You find the idea of being me an enticing offer. That's why you wanted to find out who I was in the first place."

"You're clever." Jane stared straight into Bruce's eyes. "Yes, I want to be you. And one day, I will. I guess when you call yourself the _'World's Greatest Detective'_ it inspires a lot of jealousy."

"I had a feeling you'd never tell anyone." Bruce sat upright again. "My secret is too important to both of us. If everyone else knows, then you can't be me."

"Exactly. But this does mean I have all the more reason to kill you." Jane's grin grew wider as she mimicked Bruce's posture.

"You'd never be able to do that."

"We'll just have to see."

"There's one thing I want to know before I leave." Batman's gaze intensified. "How did you figure it out? Everyone who's done it before, they had some kind of method. What was yours?"

"Now, now, Mr. Wayne… I can't tell you_ everything._" Jane wagged a finger in front of Bruce's face. "Figure it out on your own, _detective_."

Without another word, Batman stood up and slowly began to go for the door.

"I enjoyed our chat. Will I be seeing more of you?"

Bruce knew Jane wanted to get under his skin. But he refused to let it happen.

"No."

With that, Jane Doe was left alone in the room. Seconds later, the two guards came back in and escorted her back to her cell. Although she was inside Arkham, Jane was content. Today was her first close up look at what Batman was really like. She told herself that within just a couple of months she would have everything she needed to become the Dark Knight himself.

The sun set right outside of Jane's cell. She stared at the window towards the Gotham City skyline.

"I'm coming to get you, _Bruce_."

**The End**


End file.
